The present invention relates generally to animal crates or kennels used for housing, training and maintaining dogs, cats and other pet animals. More particularly, the invention relates to a square-back animal crate that can be easily assembled and disassembled by the pet owner, that is strong enough to contain the animal without injury and that is aesthetically appealing.
Animal crates represent an effective and humane method of pet management. The crates can be employed to house, contain and train most commonly found pets including dogs, cats, birds and rodents.
While commercial operations, such as veterinarians, professional kenneling businesses and humane societies, have popularly used animal crates for some time, pet owners have also discovered the value and benefits of using a crate in their homes. Among other things, a crate provides a pet owner with an appropriate space when the animal needs to be confined and assists in house training the animal. As many animals have territorial instincts, the crate also provides a secure xe2x80x9cdenxe2x80x9d for them.
In order to be effective, however, a crate must be properly configured and meet certain criteria. Unfortunately, many existing crates lack critical features or suffer from other disadvantages that affect the sale of the crates, impair the ability of the pet owner to fully enjoy the crates or use them to the maximum benefit, injure the pet in extreme cases, as well as potentially lead to misperceptions on the part of consumers as to the humanitarian aspects of crates generally.
One primary disadvantage of existing crates stems from their necessary size. Many crates are very expansive structures so that they can properly house a large animal, such as many breeds of dogs, while providing the animal with sufficient room to maneuver. These crates require a lot of space which can have detrimental effects on both the pet owner and the retail seller of crates.
For instance, while many pet owners may have long term need for a crate, there are frequently times when the crate may need to be moved. Some pet owners, for example, may wish to relocate the crate or move the crate between the outside and the inside of the house so as to give the animal a more varied environment. Additionally, the pet owner may wish to take the animal along on a vacation, drop the animal off with someone that will care for it while the owner is away, or otherwise travel with the animal. Under such circumstances, it would be convenient for the pet owner to be able to transport the crate as well so that it could be used at the new location. The size and bulk of many prior art crates, however, render them quite awkward for transportation.
At other times, the pet owner may wish to temporarily store away the crate. Once again, most existing crates, even those intended for small animals, take up a significant amount of space, making them difficult to store.
The size and bulk of prior art crates also has a detrimental effect on the retailers and sellers of such items. Retailers of crates need to store multiple crates to have on hand as inventory and to display the crates to customers in their stores. The size of the crates means that a significant and vital amount of storage and display space is taken up by each crate.
Some in the industry have attempted to overcome these disadvantages by producing collapsible crates that can be manipulated to a smaller, flatter size or square-back crates which can be disassembled into smaller individual pieces when the crate is not in use, thereby making storage and transportation easier. Many of these prior art crates, however, suffer from disadvantages.
In order to be useful to pet owners, the collapsible and square-back crates must be relatively easy to assemble and disassemble. Thus, the method of constructing and taking apart the crate should be straight forward and easily understood by the pet owner. Likewise, the time to actually assemble and disassemble the crate should be short. Ideally, there should also be a minimum of components making up the crate. Too many components, particularly small ones, leads to the possibility that some of them could be lost. Furthermore, an excess of components, each with its own distinct characteristics, increases the complexity of the crate and furthers the likelihood that the pet owner may become confused when attempting to reassemble the crate. Finally, a large number of components increases the risk that the animal may loosen some and become injured.
Many of the prior art collapsible and square-back crates reflect these disadvantages. U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,681 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,734, both issued to Ho, for example, each refer to animal crates that consist of numerous parts. Many of the parts are small attachment pieces that fit together in a unique way and that could be easily lost or broken, thereby rendering the crate useless.
Another disadvantage found in many collapsible and square-back crates is their lack of integrity when placed under stress. Any crate should be able to prevent the unintended release of the animal, especially when the animal is actively attempting to escape the confines of the crate. Collapsible and square-back crates, however, are particularly susceptible to failure when the confined animal attacks the crate. By their nature, these crates are intended to come apart and thus, contain a variety of potential weak points that could fail under pressure applied by the animal or external factors.
A crate must be able to maintain its structural integrity and not allow the escape of the animal under a variety of circumstances. These include situations where particularly aggressive breeds may attack the crate in an effort to escape undesired confinement, as well escape efforts of animals due to fear (for example, trying to seek cover during a storm) or positive excitement (for example, attempting to reach its owner who has just come home from work).
Areas of a crate that are typically most vulnerable to failure are the door, where an animal might destroy or manipulate the latch, the edges of the crate, where the side panels are joined and where the animal may be able to leverage itself through, and the mesh or gauge design of the panels, where the animal could collapse or distort the structure. Furthermore, not only must the crate be able to withstand the efforts of an animal to break out but it also must maintain its integrity even against partial failure. If the animal is able to bite off or work loose portions of the crate, those pieces could be swallowed by the animal causing it to choke or otherwise become injured.
Similarly, the animal may hurt itself on exposed portions of the crate. Likewise, if the animal is able to create a gap or otherwise separate the side panels, the gap may not be big enough to allow for escape but could easily lead to the choking of the animal if the gap allows only the animal""s head through.
Many of the prior art crates are constructed in ways that may be particularly prone to causing injury to the animal if they partially fail. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,047 issued to Wazeter refers to a knock-down crate that contains a number of small sharp components that assist in holding the side and top panels of the crate together. If the animal were to obtain access to these components, they could easily cause the animal to choke.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,056 issued to Sou depicts a portable crate that also contains a number of small components. Once again, an animal could swallow these parts, break a tooth or otherwise become injured if the parts become exposed.
The base found in many crates frequently represents another disadvantage. This is true of both collapsible and square-back crates as well as those crates designed as permanent constructions. The base of a crate will frequently become soiled with urine and feces from the animal. Even for those animals that are completely trained not to defecate in the crate, the base will naturally become sullied with such waste as dirt, fur and slobber. The base may also become damp, either from the animal or through external factors. Thus, the pet owner will need to regularly clean the base of the crate.
The bases of many crates, however, are not well suited for cleaning. Some bases are permanently affixed to the bottom of the crate. This is extremely inconvenient for the pet owner as it requires the owner to clean the base by partially or wholly entering the crate or by moving the crate outdoors and attempting to wash the base through the crate.
Many crates have attempted to solve this problem by using a removable tray that is placed inside the crate for supposedly capturing all of the dirt and waste materials. The tray can be slid out of the crate, separately cleaned and then slid back into the bottom of the crate. These types of trays, however, represent a potential danger to the animal. The position of many of the trays in the crate leaves a gap between the walls of the crate and the tray. An animal could potentially use this gap to manipulate the tray which could result in the animal choking on a piece of a plastic or wooden tray that the animal is able to chew off. Even for metal trays, the animal may be able to maneuver the tray such that the paw or head of the animal could get stuck between the tray and the walls of the crate, thereby causing injury to the animal. Additionally, for collapsible and square-back crates, having a separate tray increases the number of parts and the complexity of the crate.
Some prior art trays have raised the entire crate and positioned the tray outside of the crate underneath the floor of the crate. Thus, the tray can be accessed by the pet owner but not the animal. The floor of such crates, however, can be uncomfortable for the animal to walk on and lie upon.
Finally, one disadvantage that can be found in virtually all varieties of crates is that they are frequently visually unattractive. While this issue may not initially seem to be of much concern, the lack of aesthetically appealing crate designs has practical consequences.
As previously mentioned, crates represent an efficient, as well as humane, method of containing and training a domestic animal. Many of the alternative methods of containing and training an animal do not work as well as the use of a crate. Thus, these methods can lead to frustration on the part of the pet owner as well as the pet and impair the enjoyment of the animal by the pet owner as well as the quality of life for the pet. As such, the use of crates is encouraged by the industry and acceptance of crates by the general public can be a critical factor in the enjoyment of animals by home owners and the well being of pets.
However, there is a prevalent negative opinion on the part of many consumers as to wire crates. Many pet owners perceive wire crates as cruel to animals or jail-like in application. The appearance and construction of wire crates presently available to consumers frequently reinforces this perception. Many prior art crates are produced in a fashion that minimizes the benefits of crates.
Therefore, there is a need for an animal crate that is easy to assemble and disassemble by the pet owner, maintains its integrity under typical stresses placed upon it by the animal and that encourages the general use of crates as a means of containing and training an animal. The present invention accomplishes these goals through the use of a square-back crate that is very flexible in its applications.
The crate uses a unique system of connecting the panels of the crate together through the use of uniform edge pieces so that the entire crate consists of a minimal amount of components. This system also allows the pet owner to easily and intuitively assemble and disassemble the crate. The crate also is very safe for the animal as the stresses that would be placed upon the crate by an animal trying to escape are distributed over the edge pieces. Thus, it is particularly difficult for the animal not only to escape from the crate, but also to weaken the crate and expose the components or separate the panels from the edge pieces.
Finally, the structure of the crate produces an aesthetically pleasing design that lessens the perception of animal crates being inhumane. The construction of the crate also represents a safer design as corners and ends of the crate are covered and inaccessible to both the animal, the pet owner and others who encounter the crate.
The present invention relates to an animal crate for use in containing, maintaining and training an animal, such as a domesticated pet. The crate is comprised of several parts, including, side panels, end panels and a top panel that form the exterior boundaries of the crate, a base that is attached to the bottoms of the side panels and end panels so that it can be removed from the crate, clips for securing the base to the side panels and end panels, a door providing for the entrance and egress of the animal, a latching mechanism for securing the door in a closed position, uniform edge pieces that secure together the side panels, end panels and top panels in a manner that allows for easy assembly and disassembly while being able to maintain the integrity of the connections even when faced with the typical stresses placed upon a crate by an excited animal, and corner caps positioned over the exposed corners of the crate formed at the intersections of the side panels, end panels and top panel.
The side panels, end panels and top panel are secured together by means of insertion into the edge pieces to form a generally rectangular shaped crate. If desired, the side panels, end panels and top panel can all be uniform in shape and size, thereby simplifying the construction of the crate and producing a crate that is generally square in shape. After the side panels, end panels and top panel are secured together, the corner caps are then placed at the intersection of these panels over the portion of the panels that remains exposed from the edge pieces.
One of the end panels contains an opening for conveying the animal in and out of the crate. A door with a latching mechanism is attached to this end panel so that the exit of the animal from the crate can be controlled by the pet owner. All of the latching mechanism parts are positioned outside of the crate in such a way that they are not accessible to the animal. This prevents the possibility of the animal being able to chew off any of the parts, thereby weakening the crate, destroying the latch or choking on the parts.
The base is attached to the bottom of the side panels and end panels through the use of clips. Thus, the base is clipped onto the bottom of the side panels and end panels in a temporary fashion. This allows the pet owner to remove the base for cleaning or other purposes and easily reattach it to the side panels and end panels. Corner caps can also be attached to the corners of the base. A separate tray, although not necessary, can also be used with the crate.
The design of the edge pieces and corner caps ensures that the crate can be easily assembled by the pet owner and can be easily disassembled should the pet owner need to transport the crate. The edge pieces also ensure that the side panels, end panels and top panel are secured together in a fashion that allows the crate to prevent the escape of an aggressive or excited breed. The design of the edge pieces and corner caps also results in softening the traditional harsh appearance of crates.
Thus, the crate is convenient for the pet owner to assemble, disassemble and clean, is strong enough to ensure the safety of the animal and promotes the use of crates as an effective and humane method of housing and training animals.